Editing Family Compact (section)

{{Short description|Political clique in Upper Canada (1810s to 1840s)}}
{{About|a group in 19th-century Canadian history|the pact between the royal families of 18th-century France and Spain|Pacte de Famille}}
{{Infobox organization
| name         = Family Compact
| image         = Canada upper.PNG
| alt           = Map of Upper Canada (orange) within British North America (pink)
| caption       = Map of Upper Canada (orange) within British North America (pink)
| abbreviation  =
| formation     =
| dissolved     = 1848
| type          =
| purpose       = Informal political clique
| headquarters  =
| location      = [[York, Upper Canada]]
| coords        =
| region_served = Upper Canada
| membership    =
| language      = English
| leader_title  =
| leader_name   = [[Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto|Sir John Robinson]] (26 July 1791&nbsp;– 31 January 1863)
}}
{{history of Ontario}}

The '''Family Compact'''<ref name="Canada History">{{cite web |url=http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/reform/family_compact.htm |title=Family Compact |work=CanadaHistory.com |date=2013 |access-date=2011-03-21 |archive-date=2011-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927120926/http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/reform/family_compact.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Canadian Encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Family Compact |first1=David |last1=Mills |first2=Daniel |last2=Panneton |orig-year=February 7, 2006 |date=March 20, 2017 |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/family-compact |access-date=April 24, 2014 |archive-date=February 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226120815/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/family-compact/ |url-status=live }}</ref> was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in [[Upper Canada]] (today's [[History of Ontario|Ontario]]) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the [[Château Clique]] in [[Lower Canada]]. It was noted for its conservatism and opposition to democracy.

The Family Compact emerged from the [[War of 1812]] and collapsed in the aftermath of the [[Rebellions of 1837–1838]]. Its resistance to the political principle of [[responsible government]] contributed to its short life.<ref name="Canada Company">{{cite book|last=Lee|first=Robert C.|title=The Canada Company and the Huron Tract, 1826-1853: Personalities, Profits and Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLsfrDfyH98C&pg=PA149|year=2004|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=978-1-896219-94-3|page=149}}</ref> At the end of its lifespan, the compact would be condemned by [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]], a leading [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]], who summarised its grip on power:

<blockquote>Fortified by family connexion, and the common interest felt by all who held, and all who desired, subordinate offices, that party was thus erected into a solid and permanent power, controlled by no responsibility, subject to no serious change, exercising over the whole government of the Province an authority utterly independent of the people and its representatives, and possessing the only means of influencing either the Government at home, or the colonial representative of the Crown.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/lorddurhamsrepor02durhiala/page/78/mode/1up ''Lord Durham's Report on the Affairs of British North America'' (London:  1838);  reprinted edition prepared by Sir Charles Lucas (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1912), vol. 2, p. 78.]</ref></blockquote>